Eastern Michigan professors wary of money being spent on football program

Faculty leaders say they hope Eastern Michigan University will make the same investment in education that it is making in football.

The comments came on Monday after EMU announced Ron English as head coach. The university is expected to pay English about $300,000, not including performance incentives. According to a December 2007 study by USA Today, the average total salary for a coach in the Mid-American Conference that year was $253,000.

"The administration is making a strong commitment to football," said Howard Bunsis, president of the American Association of University Professors. "We would like to see the same investment in the core academic mission."

Bunsis said that commitment would come in a form of new academic programs, new faculty and more advisors. EMU has recently canceled recent faculty searches and raised tuition significantly at a time when families are struggling to make tuition payments, he said. "We certainty want the football program to succeed," he said.

Eastern Michigan president Susan Martin declined to comment on the hiring Monday.

University spokesman Ward Mullens said no other administrators were available to comment on the issue Monday.

Board of Regents president Tom Sidlik said the university is making an investment in infrastructure, has a new president and has now picked a new coach. Having a successful collegiate sport is part of the entire university experience, he said.

"It's always the right time to get the right people," Sidlik said. "Ron is going to be a tremendous addition to the team."

Faculty Council head Russ Larson said the previous coach, Jeff Genyk, did a good job of maintaining a high academic standard for the team. While some people think that EMU should have a winning football team to increase enrollment, he would like to see the investment directed toward buildings and programs.

"We would never recruit good players to win the MAC," Larson said.

Khalil E. Hachem can be reached at khachem@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6759.